The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled on Thursday that Switzerland had ‘wrongly exposed Tamil asylum seeker to torture’ in deporting him and his family back to Sri Lanka in 2013. 

Stating that the deportation violated article three of the European Convention on Human Rights, the court ordered that €30,000 must be paid in compensation. 

Relatives off the disappeared have suspended their hunger strike after a date was set for a high-level meeting by the Sri Lankan defence minister.

A meeting at Temple Trees with the President, Defence Minister and Attorney General along with a team of ten representatives from the hunger strike campaign was promised by Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardene, visiting the fasters.

The meeting has been scheduled for February 9^th.

A UN report describing Sri Lanka’s culture of torture should be a wake up call to the country’s president to comply with international obligations, an international justice group has said.

Sri Lanka continues to operate under a culture of torture and should immediately repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture has said.

The report of the Special Rapporteur on torture, Juan Mendez on his mission to Sri Lanka in April-May 2016 documents that torture is still widespread in the early stages of detention, particularly to extract confessions out of detainees, and that the judiciary fails to scrutinise the practices.

Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe claimed that he has no information regarding missing persons on the island and instead suggested that many of the missing may have left Sri Lanka illegally.

Bloomberg ranked Sri Lanka among the world's high risk countries for investment based on 29 indicators which included political and economic factors. 

Commenting on Sri Lanka's predicted unemployment rate for 2017 at 5.2%, Bloomberg said, “unemployment can serve as a proxy for the overall health of the economy. Long-term high unemployment levels eventually lead to less spending power among consumers, lower tax revenues for governments and possible social unrest." 

Hunger strikers in Vavuniya continued their protest for a third day, demanding information about their missing family members.

One woman participating in the fast was hospitalised after losing consciousness.

The people of Keppapilavu, Mullaitivu held a protest to coincide with the visit of the Sri Lankan president, demanding their own lands be returned to them.

Although President Maithripala Sirisena cancelled his visit, reportedly due to poor weather, a public function was held to mark the return of some Mullaitivu lands.

However many displaced Tamils maintain that the released lands are not usually their original properties, but alternative lands.

The US-based Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC) met with officials from the Sri Lankan government in Colombo on Tuesday, the DailyFT reports.

The Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry will open an office in Jaffna this week.

The Regional Consular office will be located in Jaffna’s District Secretariat and will provide certain services that were previously only provided in Colombo.

A pregnant mother was violently murdered in Kayts on Tuesday.

27-year-old Ramsika Mary Gnaneswaran, seven months pregnant and mother-of-one, was beaten to death while home alone on Siruvil Road, Kayts.

Two suspects, reported to be steel traders from outside the area were arrested after Kayts police chased their auto down, and two further arrests were later made.

Sri Lanka's Court of Appeals has reinstated an appeal filed by the wife of Tamil MP Nadarajah Raviraj, against a verdict passed last month acquitting all of the suspects accused of his murder.

Shashikala Raviraj, the wife of the murdered MP, challenged the Colombo High Court's decision last month, but her initial appeal was dismissed on January 19th. However the appeal will now be taken up for support by the Apellate Court on March 3rd.

Three fishermen from Neduntheevu (Delft) were assaulted by Sri Lankan navy officers last week.

Thiyogupillai Yesuthasan, Sahayan Selvan and Mariathas Vasantharaj were forced to land ashore on Kachaithivu, after their boat ran out of fuel on Friday.

The three were arrested by navy officers stationed at the island and beaten severely with batons.

After being kept overnight at the camp, the fishermen were ejected from the island still with a fuel-less boat.

Following days of protests, Tamil Nadu has passed a new bill allowing Jallikattu – a controversial bull-taming sport that is central to the harvest festival.

In 2014, the Supreme Court banned Jallikattu on the grounds of animal cruelty. Animal rights activists say that the practice causes stress to the bulls as they are released into a crowd and try to fend off people that try to ride them. However, the government temporarily lifted the ban on Saturday.